Subneolithic Communities in the Basin of the Narew and the Lower and Middle Bug

The book explores the Subneolithic communities that existed in Central and Eastern Europe between the Neolithic and the Early Bronze Age (c. 3500–1800 bc), with a particular focus on the hunter-gatherer and fishing communities who made use of pottery. Archaeologists focusing on this period have long-questioned why these communities adopted ceramics, and yet rejected other technological advances from this period, among them agriculture and pastoralism. This volume seeks to engage with this key question through the analysis of archaeological sources from Poland, including the Bug and Narew River basins. Drawing on the latest research from both Central and Eastern Europe, as well as from Eastern Asia, this far-reaching volume argues that, in contrast to common opinion, the adoption of ceramics by these communities did not occur through contacts with agricultural cultures and offers a new understanding of the Subneolithic communities of the central and eastern European lowlands.